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Colin Meads
Born
Lock, New Zealand. "Pinetree" Meads played 55 Tests across 15 years from the late 1950s and was the archetype of the mobile lock: winning lineout ball, then turning up in rucks and loose play. His hard edge at the breakdown set the physical standard All Black forward packs were built on.
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Willie John McBride
Born
Lock, Ireland and the Lions. McBride toured five times with the Lions and captained the unbeaten 1974 side in South Africa, built on a pack that refused to be bullied. His leadership of the forwards, organising the scrum and lineout under intense pressure, is why that tour is still cited as the template for Lions forward play.
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Mervyn Davies (rugby union)
Born
Number eight, Wales and the Lions. "Merve the Swerve" controlled the base of the scrum and the back of the lineout for Wales's 1971 and 1976 Grand Slams and the 1971 and 1974 Lions. His handling and positional sense linked forwards and backs in a way that let Edwards and John play at speed.
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Jean-Pierre Rives
Born
Flanker, France. Rives, small for a back-row forward and famous for playing on with a bloodied head, captained France through the late 1970s and early 1980s and led Grand Slam sides. His relentless support play and tackling around the fringes made him the heartbeat of France's open style.
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Sean Fitzpatrick
Born
Hooker, New Zealand. Fitzpatrick won the 1987 World Cup and captained the All Blacks to their first series win in South Africa in 1996, with accurate lineout throwing and a combative presence at the breakdown. He redefined the hooker as a mobile, ball-carrying leader rather than just a scrum specialist.
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Os du Randt
Born
Loosehead prop, South Africa. Du Randt won the World Cup in 1995 and again in 2007, twelve years apart, anchoring the Springbok scrum in both campaigns. His career shows how a dominant scrummager can shape a whole game plan built on penalties and territory.
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Martin Johnson (rugby union)
Born
Lock, England and the Lions. Johnson captained the 1997 Lions to a series win in South Africa and England to the 2003 World Cup, running the lineout and the maul and setting the tone in contact. The calm control of the final minutes in Sydney, keeping the ball through the phases before Wilkinson's drop goal, was forward leadership at its clearest.
More about Martin Johnson (rugby union)8
Richie McCaw
Born
Openside flanker, New Zealand. McCaw played 148 Tests and captained the All Blacks to World Cups in 2011 and 2015. His skill at the breakdown, arriving first, contesting legally and knowing exactly how far the referee would let him go, made him the reference point for the modern openside.
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Paul O'Connell
Born
Lock, Munster, Ireland and the Lions. O'Connell ran the lineout for Munster's two Heineken Cups and Ireland's 2009 Grand Slam, and captained the 2009 Lions. His lineout calling, reading where the opposition would compete and changing the throw, turned set piece into a weapon rather than a restart.
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Thierry Dusautoir
Born
Flanker, France. Dusautoir is credited with 38 tackles as France beat New Zealand in the 2007 World Cup quarter-final, then captained France to the 2011 final and was named World Rugby Player of the Year that year. His defensive workload is the best example on this list of a forward changing a match without the ball.
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David Pocock
Born
Openside flanker, Australia. Pocock was the outstanding breakdown jackaller of the 2010s, winning turnovers by getting low over the ball before the ruck formed, and was central to Australia reaching the 2015 World Cup final. He later became a senator, but his rugby is the clearest lesson in how one player can slow an opponent's whole attack.
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Alun Wyn Jones
Born
Lock, Wales and the Lions. Alun Wyn Jones retired as the most-capped player in Test history, with three Grand Slams for Wales and the Lions captaincy in 2021. His value lay in unglamorous work: lineout defence, clearing rucks and tackling at a high rate deep into his thirties.
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Sarah Hunter
Born
Number eight, England. Hunter won the 2014 World Cup and retired as England's most-capped player, men or women, having captained the Red Roses through their long unbeaten run. Her scrum control and defensive work set the platform for the maul-heavy game that made England dominant.
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Siya Kolisi
Flanker, South Africa. Kolisi captained the Springboks to World Cup wins in 2019 and 2023, the first Black Test captain for South Africa. His carrying and tackling were steady rather than flashy; his influence came from organising a back row and bench system built to win physically over 80 minutes.
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Pieter-Steph du Toit
Born
Flanker and lock, South Africa. Du Toit was World Rugby Player of the Year in 2019 and again in 2024, mainly for his defensive work rate: dominant tackles, chasing kicks and covering the field. He won two World Cups and is the clearest current example of a forward whose biggest contributions do not show up in carries or tries.
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Eben Etzebeth
Born
Lock, South Africa. Etzebeth became the Springboks' most-capped player and won two World Cups, bringing physical dominance at the lineout, maul and breakdown. He is the enforcer in a system that relies on winning collisions, and the reason opponents struggle to maul against South Africa.
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Malcolm Marx
Hooker, South Africa. Marx was named World Rugby Player of the Year in 2025, recognised for breakdown steals rare for a hooker alongside powerful carrying and accurate throwing. Often used from the bench in the Springboks' "bomb squad", he shows how replacements can decide matches.
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Ardie Savea
Number eight and flanker, New Zealand. Savea was World Rugby Player of the Year in 2023, combining footwork in contact that turns half-gaps into line breaks with breakdown work at the other end. He shows how the modern back-rower carries an attacking load once reserved for centres.
More about Ardie Savea19
Maro Itoje
Born
Lock, England and the Lions. Itoje captained the Lions to a series win in Australia in 2025 and leads England. His long arms make him a constant threat to steal opposition lineouts and disrupt mauls, and his breakdown work often turns a match without registering on the scoreboard.
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Zoe Aldcroft
Born
Lock and flanker, England. Aldcroft was World Rugby women's player of the year in 2021 and captained England to victory at the 2025 World Cup on home soil. Her lineout work, tackling and support play make her the kind of forward whose contributions show up in possession and territory rather than headlines.
More about Zoe Aldcroft21
Sophie de Goede
Born
Lock and number eight, Canada. De Goede was named World Rugby women's player of the year in 2025 after helping Canada reach the World Cup final, combining set-piece work and carrying with goal-kicking, a rare mix for a forward. She shows how much one versatile forward can lift a team's whole game.
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